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Ford Motor Company announced a R600-million investment in their Struandale Engine Plant in Gqeberha, to produce a new engine derivative and to support the existing assembly line.
Vice President Operations, Ockert Berry, said the investment is part of Ford’s commitment to modernising and growing local operations.
He said it was also over and above the R15.8-billion investment in the Silverton Assembly Plant and supplier tooling announced in February to support production of the next-generation Ranger bakkie.
“Through this investment we are introducing a third diesel engine to the Struandale operations, in the form of the new 3.0L V6 turbodiesel engine that will power selected next-gen Ranger models when production commences next year,” Berry said following Thursday’s announcement.
“The majority of the investment is going into expanding and modernizing the current assembly line that has produced the existing 2.2L and 3.2L Duratorq TDCi engines since 2011, with 792 000 engines assembled to date.”
He said employment numbers at the Struandale Engine Plant remains unchanged at approximately 850, but said “the employees allocated to the various machining and assembly lines will be optimised to support the required production volumes for all three engine programs, thus ensuring stability in the local employment.”
